December news update

Welcome to the National Lottery Commission’s latest news update. If you would like more information on anything covered in the update or to receive this update by email, contact us at info@natlotcomm.gov.uk.

Christmas Message from Dr Anne Wright CBE, Chair of the National Lottery Commission

On behalf everyone at the Commission I’d like to wish you an enjoyable Christmas break. We look forward to working with you in the New Year, refreshed and ready to take on the challenges that 2011 brings. Next year will be one of huge change for the Commission, but we are determined to continue our important work to safeguard the Lottery, its players and the millions of pounds they generate for good causes every week.

A better way to regulate

We start with some good news. A report we have published today shows that through embracing the principles of better regulation, the Commission has cut red tape, streamlining and focussing Lottery regulation in line with best practice. The report contains examples of how we have started to better target our regulation, and allow Camelot more freedom in areas where they have a proven track record. In one instance, we were able to cut the number of reports Camelot have to file with us by 40%, saving them around 600 man hours of work each year.

As Mark Harris our Chief Executive has said: “We are committed to improving our approach so that we continue to safeguard the long term public interest in the Lottery whilst allowing Camelot as much commercial freedom as possible to pursue growth opportunities quickly, effectively and in a socially responsible manner. This report shows that we are making good progress and that we will make further improvements over the coming year.” The report, called ‘A better way to regulate the Lottery’ is available from our website, here.

£670 million generated for good causes so far this year

New figures show that the National Lottery has already generated over £670 million for good causes in the first six months of this financial year; excluding unclaimed prizes and interest payments which by the end of the year will push the total even higher. Our most recent report also shows that so far £550 million has been generated for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, almost 75% of the target of £750 million. Click here to see the report in full.